Tag Archives: Knee

So I crashed on my mountain bike a few weeks ago and the damage to my knee totally took me out of the game (both physically and here on the blog). No running, no riding, and with the slump in activity, even my swimming felt the hit. But I’ve started PT and hope to fix my knee for good. And then this situation came up and I felt it was certainly worth sharing…what do you think?

Lately I’ve started coming to the realization that it’s not always about the equipment but more about the engine behind it (i.e. me and you). It’s interesting to me, because I’m coming at it from the perspective of someone who works with the newest cycling technology every day. My job is to convince people that the newest cycling technology will make them better riders. And I believe it will. Mountain biking went from rigid clunkers to carbon full-suspension 29rs to DH bikes with more than 10″ of travel. Road bikes started about as steel and since then have been made from aluminium, scandium, carbon fiber, heck even bamboo!

But the other day I got to ride a tricked out version of the aforementioned Santa Cruz Tallboy 29r owned by one of our regular customers. This sub-25lb. bike had everything: Edge (now called Enve) composite wheels, SRAM XX 2×10 drivetrain, carbon handlebars and a Rock Shox XX Sid fork. Everything, that is, except clipless pedals. That’s right; the guy who owned this bike worth over $5k (and that’s just at dealer cost) didn’t even clip in. After years of riding, he’d just never gotten the hang of it. But that didn’t stop him. His regular circuit at Big Creek would turn my legs and lungs into a lump of jelly.

A few weeks ago, pre injury, I raced in the Big Creek Time Trial Series. I felt alright about the time, it was slower than my 4 Ways time, but told myself that it could be better if I had a newer, lighter bike. This was confirmed when a friend picked up my bike and called over to the officials, telling them to knock a few minutes off my time because of how heavy it is for a XC bike. Later that same week, I was talking with one of the regular customers at our shop, mentioning my plans for a new bike. He asked what my recent lap time was and looked at me in disbelief. Even with his new bike that weighs four to five pounds less than mine, my slow time was two full minutes faster than his best lap time.

This caused my focus to change a bit. Instead of worrying out when I’m finally going to scrape together enough cash for my new mountain bike, I’m going to focus on improving my body using the equipment currently in my possession. Feeling sorry that I own a 35lb. XC bike – think of it as resistance training. Still have a granny gear on my road bike – just means I need to hit up steeper hills. Bum knee – more time to get back into swimming and rock climbing and build my upper body while I rehab the knee.